The Third Brother
by Vestrwald
Summary: The lad near the edge of the portrait is my youngest brother, Sain. Yes, what is it? You wish to know more about Sain? Why would you wish to know of him? You do not wish to answer? Very well, I will not press for answers. I will tell you of Sain.


Author's Note: I have no claim to the Fire Emblem series, the characters of said series, or the words and stories depicted therein. I do lay claim to this tale.

_The Third Brother_

This is a portrait of my family. The tall man in the center is my father, the Earl of Dyved, Fercos the son of Macsen. He served under Hausen, the Marquess of Caelin, for all his life. He died three years ago when he refused to take part in the rebellion headed by Lundgren. Beside him is my mother Rhiannon of Castle Ilium, which is in Pherae. She died five years before Father.

My three sisters stand in front of her. Seren is the lady with golden hair and the silver head piece. She married the Earl of Celyddon, but died giving birth to a son two years ago. Mari is the lass with the brown hair and green eyes. She went to the Etrurian capital of Aquilia and never returned. Only the gods know what became of her, I fear. Enid is the youngest one, the lassie with the golden curls about her head. She died from disease many years ago.

Before father stand us three brothers. I, the eldest, stand right there by his right shoulder. I used to be a promising lad once, but the disease has taken its toll and whatever promise I had is now long gone. Corvil is the young man standing right beside me; this was shortly before he left for the abbey where he entered the Order of the Elimine Priests. He has been dead for nearly three years now; bandits had raided his abbey. The lad near the edge is my youngest brother, Sain.

Yes, what is it? You wish to know more about Sain? Why would you? He was not the most prominent of my family.

You do not wish to answer? Very well, I am too tired to press for answers, at least at the moment. Come, let us go to where I can rest my legs, and I shall tell you of Sain, the third brother in my family.

This is better. Now, what exactly should I tell you about my brother Sain?

Everything I know? I am afraid that will not be a lot, we were not the closest of brothers. Still I will do as you ask.

My brother Sain was born ten years after my birth. He was a twin and was born with our sister Enid. His birth was a great trouble for father, a man who was ever looking forward. I was to inherit the title and state that he ruled; Corvil was to enter into the service of the church. His daughters, including Sain's twin Enid, could be married off to noble men that would care for them and support our family. For Sain, though, father had nothing to give him. There was no land and title to give and no service he could enter into that would look after him; Sain would have to make his own way in the world once he grew to be a man.

I believe the uncertain future for Sain troubled father. He was the sort of man that was always looking ahead and worrying about what the next day would bring. I remember that when he saw Sain he would begin to pace and his mood would go foul.

Though Sain was a burden of sorts to father, he became my mother's favorite in short time. I remember that she would often call him her crown jewel. For the longest time she would not let Sain leave her side and wherever mother went, Sain was always at hand. I believe that was the only time he was not causing trouble. That did not last long, though.

When he was six years of age, father tried to teach Sain what he called the two skills; the skill of poetry and speech and the skill of the sword. He believed that if one could speak well, especially in verse, that you could maintain the peace around you. If you failed in that skill, he said you would at least have the sword to protect you. I learned them when I was near that age as well, so did Corvil. Neither of one of us excelled in one of the skills; however, father did approve of our abilities in both of them.

Sain, however, was a different story. He would have little to do with swordplay, but he had a great love for poetry and speech. I remember he would often recite a poem at breakfast and another at the evening meal as though it were as easy as talking. He took it even further and learned the tales and legends of the heroes of our land, which are often put into verse by the great story tellers of our land. Often were the times he would sneak down to the tavern where the storytellers gathered. It was a wonder he was not harmed, though Sain was liked by the workers and they would see no harm come to him.

I had no great respect for what Sain did. I myself had skill in both sword and speech; I could not understand why he would have nothing to do the sword. We did not speak much in those days Corvil was kind to Sain, but distant; he was going to be a monk and would not be allowed much contact with the family. Our sisters, though, enjoyed Sain. They took much after our mother and gave him a great amount of affection. Enid herself particularly enjoyed him, though I found that no great surprise.

For father, though, it caused him great pain that Sain did not learn those skills. It embittered him against his son, for Sain had rejected what he believed to be the most important skills a man could have. I do believe that he would have been more strict and rough with Sain if it had not been for Rhiannon. As I said before, Sain was her favorite son. She therefore took it upon herself to shield him from father's ire.

The years passed and Sain continued to compose his verse and learn his tales. Our family started to disperse over those years. Corvil left for the abbey and whatever news we heard of him was few and far between. Seren married the Earl of Celyddon and left the manor. That distressed Sain slightly, but he was resilient and kept the cheery smile that he had developed. Enid grew into a fine young lassie. She and Sain were never apart; wherever young Sain went he would take his dear sister. She loved tales and speech as much as he did, which only encouraged him to focus more upon those studies instead of his swordplay.

Then Enid became ill and was confined to her chambers. Sain, who was eleven years old at the time, did not take it well. He was not used to death, so he avoided her room. He did visit her, but he often spent his time in solitude among the hills that rose behind the manor. Enid slowly wasted away over the weeks and finally died one cool winter morning. None of us took it well, though Sain had the most grief from it.

Sain still learned his lore and poetry, but he slowly gave in to father. Sain learned his swordplay and became somewhat proficient in it. Time passed and he slowly gained back his normal wit and charm, but he no longer resisted father. Then, when he was thirteen years of age, he left the manor.

I remember that year clearly. A call had gone out from Castle Caelin for any able bodied noble men to join the knight core. Our house is not the most important one in Caelin, but we can send men to fight just as well as any other. Sain, filled with stories of valour and strength, took leave of the manor. Father approved of the venture, it would give Sain hope for the future and would make use of the skills he had been taught. Rhiannon and Mari were sad to see him go, but they gave him an armful of gifts and he left with their blessing. Even father gave him something, a fine wooden green shield that had been in our family armory for some time.

I was gone to Ostia and was learning matters of wisdom from several Etrurian scholars who had gathered there. I never sent him my well wishes or sent him a gift. My mind was turned to my studies and preparing for what would be my tasks.

My knowledge starts to fail at this point. Sain offered his services to Marquess Hausen, who accepted them and made him a squire. He wrote little, though. Mari visited him often, but she spoke little of her visits to anyone, even to me when I visited home. Mari left the manor shortly after Sain did. She was sixteen years and full of ideas, so she took the road to Aquilia and vanished. A grave loss to our family, for she was kind, though a bit given to secrets.

We heard news from Castle Caelin every few months. Sain did well as a squire, though he maintained his visits to the tavern to hear the stories he so loved. We heard he had also started to give much attention to woman, though I found those rumours hard to believe. Sain had always been a most quiet lad around ladies.

Sain did well in his training. He excelled in the use of the spear and his swordplay was reasonable. He did not visit often, though. Two years passed after Mari left and then Mother became ill. I suppose those ten years of caring children had stretched her thin. The months slowly passed, mother confined to her bed and father refusing to leave her side unless it was for the most important of duties; I took on many of his duties during that time. Mother passed away in the winter months, just like Enid.

Sain came to the funeral dressed in black and upon a large warhorse. I had expected him to have a piece of verse prepared about Rhiannon, but he was silent. Sain and father said little to each other, though they both carried the same grief heavily. I tried to speak with Sain, but he was feeling grief once more in his life and did not seem interested in speech. I suppose if I had been a better brother when we were younger, we would have had more to say to each other then. He left as quietly as he came and returned to Castle Caelin.

News of Sain from Caelin was even scarcer now, though I heard that he regained whatever mirth he had before Rhiannon died. Three years passed; news came from Marquess Hausen. He had a granddaughter named Lyndis out in the Sacae plains, the offspring of his daughter Madelyn who had fled to the plains many years ago. It was no secret that the Marquess desired to meet his grandchild. He had the Knight Commander Eagler, may he find rest, pick out two young knights to ride out to Sacae and find his granddaughter. One knight was a fellow named Kent from the House in Arvon, the other was Sain.

Father took the news quite well and for days he spoke proudly of Sain to his attendants. I believe that was the first time he gave Sain much praise. He even insisted that we journey to Castle Caelin and see him before he left. We arrived a few weeks before he was to depart and he seemed as full of mirth as ever. He was always a resilient man.

Sain spent much time talking with father, though he avoided telling us of his training and duties. He talked mostly of his interactions with the people of the towns and also of "the foolishness" of his fellow knights. Sain felt they had little appreciation for tales and speech. He had said that most of them seemed only interested in politics of the court and how to handle the sword.

We heard more talk of Sain's attentiveness to women. Knight Commander Eagler was the one who confirmed those rumours from the past few years. He gave high praise to Sain, calling him an excellent rider and accomplished spearman, though Eagler did say that Sain was at times forgetful and would give more attention to women than training if they were present on the grounds. It had come as a surprise to me; father had merely frowned and said that Sain was letting the tales and legends concerning romance go to his head. He did not speak of the matter with Sain though.

That visit was the first time Sain and I actually acted as brothers. On the final night of our visit, father had gone to bed early and Sain was going to sneak out to a tavern to enjoy the company of the simple people who gathered there. I caught him just as he put his cloak on, but instead of scolding him I simply tossed my own cloak on and together we made our way down to the tavern.

I was not used to the tavern life. The place was dark and warm. Smoke filled the room, as well as the smell of ale. It was crowded with drunken men and young maids carrying the ales to the patrons. Sain drank quite a few tankards of the liquid. I myself barely made it past two. I have never been a great drinker.

We talked a while and I saw Sain attempt to woo several maidens, but all of them refused his advances swiftly. Still, he never showed a loss of spirit and the night passed with much enjoyment for us. We both staggered up to the castle that morning, myself from tiredness and Sain from drinking entirely too much. I believe he was singing a song, but that may have been a trick of my mind.

Father and I parted with Sain on good terms. Sain and I even promised to have another night in the tavern in the future. We returned home and time passed. Sain left on his journey and for six months there was no news of him. News did come from Caelin, though. Marquess Hausen's health had started to decline. The news troubled father and me, but we did nothing to look into it. Marquess Hausen was, after all, rather old and he was bound to become ill at times.

Besides, we had more pressing concerns at the moment. News had come from the abbey where Corvil lived; he had died in a bandit attack. It was depressing news for father; he had out lived half his children, it seemed. Corvil was buried in the abbey grounds by the surviving monks in a simple ceremony father and I could not attend. It was odd not seeing him one last time, but other tasks needed to be done.

A few months passed and Marquess Hausen's health showed no signs of improvement. I grew concerned and after much thought decided to ride to Etruria and find a physician or sage who could heal the Marquess. It was to be a difficult journey and father was against it. I had a secret hope to find Mari in Etruria, though, so I left and rode the long rode to the land in the West.

I was in Aquilia conducting my search when much news became known to me. Lundgren, the brother of Marquess Hausen, had been poisoning his brother in order to make an attempt for the thrown. I also heard more news, this time about Sain. He and his boon companion had found the daughter of Madelyn, Lyndis. They also had gathered up a band of mercenaries and were marching against Lundgren, who had seized Castle Caelin for his own and was attacking them with all of Caelin's might.

I also heard of father. He was found in his study dead, a goblet beside him filled with what was no doubt poisoned wine. It did not take me long to guess that Lundgren had poisoned my father when he refused to take part in the rebellion. There is no doubt in my mind that father refused him.

I left Aquilia and rode back to Caelin. It took me many weeks of travel and I arrived too late to make any difference. Lundgren was slain by the time I reached Ostia and Marquess Hausen had begun to recover under the care of his granddaughter, Lyndis.

Sain advanced in the knight ranks after Marquess Hausen recovered. He was made a knight subcommander, a most noble position. It would have been a joyous moment, but our father was dead. We buried him next to Rhiannon and parted with little words. Both of us felt the guilt of not being there to help him in his time of need, I believe. I inherited the title and became Earl of Dyved. I renewed the vows of loyalty that my family had kept for many generations. Sain and I now had little time to catch up; both of us had new duties.

A year passed by and more grim news came. Our sister, Seren, died giving birth to her second child. I never had a chance to attend her burial due to the many tasks I had at hand. Sain, though, did go to her burial. He said it was a fine funeral, if you could call such a thing fine. The letter said little else and soon he was back in Castle Caelin fulfilling his duties and spending time in the tavern.

Neither of us sent much news to each other after Seren's death. I guess there was not much to tell. News came from all over Lycia, though I heard of Marquess Pherae's disappearance six months after father died. A troubling thought that a man of such power could just vanish. Months passed and then the son of Marquess Pherae, Eliwood, disappeared too. I heard rumours over the weeks that he and the brother of Marquess Ostia, Hector, were wandering through Lycia with a band of vagrants, but I paid them little heed. Then one day, the canton of Laus seized Castle Caelin.

I was at Castle Caelin the day it was captured. Several footmen and a handful of noblemen held off the invading Laus forces while Sain and his companions tried to escape with the Marquess and his granddaughter. We fought hard against several of the enemy's advances, but they overpowered us and we were captured. The footmen were locked in a separate room from the noble men; I assume it was to prevent us from rallying the men.

A few days passed and then help came. Sain returned with his companions, aided by the band that the missing Eliwood had pulled together in the weeks of his disappearance. The castle was liberated after a long battle. I am sad to say I had no part in it, but that could not be helped I suppose. Shortly after the battle, Sain disappeared. With him went Eliwood and the Marquess' granddaughter, Lyndis. Lyndis' loyal companions left with her, leaving Caelin nearly defenseless. I stayed at Castle Caelin with the Marquess, who was recovering from an injury he had received during the attack.

More months passed and rumours of Eliwood's movements would abound. Some said he had marched to the Dread Isle in the south sea; others said he had gone to the plains of Sacae and joined the nomads there; and yet another said he had rode to the heart of the kingdom of Bern. Whatever the truth of Eliwood's travels, I heard no news of my brother for nearly a year. Then one day, Eliwood's company marched up to Castle Caelin and asked permission to enter. I met with Sain and I gave him a warm embrace; it was good to know my brother was safe.

Sain was more silent after his journey and it seemed as though he had aged during his travels with Eliwood. His hair had even started to grey. He was still cheerful, though, and his love of fine speech had not changed. He would give no tale of his travels, though, and still I remain in the dark about it. I suppose it shall always be that way. Sain returned to his duties at the castle and life returned to normal. A few months passed and horrible news came from Castle Caelin. Marquess Hausen had died; the wound from the previous year had robbed him of whatever strength he had left.

The news was soon followed by a discomforting report; Lyndis, the heir to the throne, had abdicated. The title of Marquess of Caelin was given to Hector, who had just inherited the title of Marquess Ostia. That was ill news for us of the noble houses. Ostia is, as you know, against any form of peerage. They give rank to any they see fit. It meant that the old chain of command, which was based on knights from noble houses directing and leading footmen, would be replaced by the Ostian military style.

Sain was dismissed from his position. He had nowhere to go, save here. So he came here and Sain spent a month here. It was quiet despite his presence; the world we had grown up in was disappearing before our very eyes and we both had no idea what was to become of us. It was then that Sain told me of Aquilia and of Mari.

He knew why Mari had gone to Aquilia. She had a secret knowledge of anima magic and had wished to attend an academy that would be able to nurture her skill. Father could not know, though. He was a controlling man, as I said before, and he would see that attending an academy did not provide a future for Mari. Marrying did, though. At least, in his mind it would.

Mari had told all this to Sain, who had encouraged her to go to Aquilia where a great school of magic took its residence. She had agreed. Somehow the two obtained funding for the venture and Mari left, never to return or send word. Sain told me that Aquilia was a place to start over. Mari had gone there before him and he felt it only fitting to follow her.

I supported Sain in his choice. There was nothing for him here and it would be better to seek opportunities abroad. I gave him what I could spare and gladly offered to find him a troupe to travel with. He had refused my offer, though, and left on a cool spring morning with his horse. That was six months ago.

A letter came to me a few days ago from Aquilia. It did not bear the good news I had hoped. Sain's love for fine speech and women finally took its toll, I suppose. He was found in the streets of Aquilia with several knife wounds, dead. Sain had unwittingly spent the night before entertaining the wife of a jealous and cruel count who had a talent in arranging such dark matters. I have sent a compliant to King Mordred in Etruria, but I do not expect to hear a reply. We are only a small noble house.

That is all I know. Tell me, why is it that an agent of Marquess Ostia be interested in the son of a small noble house such as mine?

Is that so? My brother fought with Lord Eliwood against dragons you say. That is a most difficult thing to believe. Then again, I suppose at this point I have no other choice. My health is failing and it would be best to have known that Sain had done something of great worth while he was gone for that year.

However, his tale was not the real reason you came here, is it?

I thought not. You want to know if I will oppose Ostia's rule in this land. I believe you already know the answer. I have no heir and I have no time any longer to have a son.

The other heirs to the title? Yes, I suppose there are some, but I shall speak to them. They will be of no trouble to you.

Yes, do not worry. I will support Marquess Ostia as long as I am able.

No, I need to reward for it. Caelin has seen enough civil war, I believe. I will do what I can to avoid any more infighting.

Tell me, what are you going to do with Sain's story?

Record it? That is good; Sain would have enjoyed having a tale about him. Could I ask one thing of you, though? When it is written, could you make certain that there is mention of his family? It does not matter much, but it would do me good to know that my siblings and I will not fade away. We did nothing of great worth, but I don't want to be forgotten. A selfish thought, I know.

It is sort of funny, though. In those tales Sain learned and loved, the hero was often the scorned third brother of the family. That brother would often be forced out of his house and would go on to become the brother of most worth, while the others gained nothing. I think it fitting that of all my siblings, it was him who actually went on to do something worthy in the end.


End file.
